Henry Slade returns for Exeter

Premiership leaders Exeter Chiefs are back in action tomorrow night

With their tales up, Exeter Chiefs travel to Northampton Saints tomorrow night In the Gallagher Premiership.

The chiefs beat Saracens last weekend to top the table, the game showcased a series of qualities that Rob Baxter believes can help his side drive forward.

Speaking ahead of the Northampton game tomorrow night, he told the clubs website: “What we need to do is go to Northampton with the right mindset because people soon forget about good performances if you don’t back them up. That’s the message we’ve been driving home this week and hopefully the guys will follow that through.”

“I think what the last few weeks have shown his that a big part of sport is about the emotional battle. “If you think about things, we’ve gone from people telling us we were in a min crisis because we lost to Gloucester, then all of a sudden people are saying Exeter back on form because of these last two wins.

“In truth, it’s all been spaced apart by a just a few training days - and that’s the battle we have to win first and foremost against Northampton. They’ve had a decent win travelling away to Worcester, a side who have been playing very well, and we’ve had a decent win ourselves. Now it’s a case of who can mentally and emotionally refresh first."

Not surprisingly, Baxter sticks with a largely unchanged side for the game. 

On the bench, the Chiefs are boosted with the return to fitness of lock Jonny Hill and centre Henry Slade.

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

15 Joe Simmonds 14 Santiago Cordero 13 Ian Whitten 12 Ollie Devoto 11 Tom O’Flaherty 10 Gareth Steenson (capt) 9 Jack Maunder 1 Ben Moon 2 Elvis Taione 3 Harry Williams 4 Mitch Lees 5 Sam Skinner 6 Sean Lonsdale 7 Don Armand 8 Matt Kvesic

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie 17 Alec Hepburn 18 Tomas Francis 19 Jonny Hill 20 Tom Lawday 21 Nic White 22 Henry Slade 23 Phil Dollman